


The Most Hideous of Vases

by Cookies_and_Chaos



Category: Murder Most Unladylike Series - Robin Stevens
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28284633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cookies_and_Chaos/pseuds/Cookies_and_Chaos
Summary: While they wait for news on Hazel, George and Daisy deal with their worry in their own ways. Written for 12 Days Christmas Challenge 2020, Day 7, "Seven Broken Pieces".
Kudos: 8
Collections: 12 Days of Christmas Challenge 2020





	The Most Hideous of Vases

It was the third time in five minutes that Daisy had looked at the vase. Each time her face crinkled with irritation and disgust before she swung around and returned to pacing. They had been left in this room for nearly fifteen minutes now and normally Daisy would have insisted they simply pick the lock on a door and go about their investigation. This time, however, their ascertaining certain, crucial information rested on them being patient.

George brushed a wrinkle out of his shirt. One would never have guessed from looking at him that he, like Daisy, had been awake all night. They would, however, have been able to tell with a single glance at Daisy and it was most unlike her.

Of course, it was all because it was Hazel that was missing. George imagined that Alexander was in much the same dreadful sort of state as Daisy, perhaps even worse as he was stuck in quarantine for whooping cough back at the Mukherjee household. Alexander had tried to play that he was fine but that was never going to pass when George's father was a doctor. Honestly, for such a decent detective, Alexander could make ridiculous decisions at times.

There was a fourth glance at the vase. It truly was a hideous item and George wondered if it was bought as a prank by someone who knew the recipient would be too polite to throw it out. George suspected that if they didn't have news soon, Daisy may simply dispose of it herself.

Click, click, click. Daisy's steps left sharp noises on the wooden flooring as she paced with even greater intensity than before. George's foot twitched in time with Daisy's steps and he satisfied himself with that single outlet for his nervous energy. It would do them no good, after all, if he were to begin pacing too.

Another may have mistaken his quiet consideration for cold-heartedness, for it certainly seemed as though he was unburdened by Hazel's absence. Daisy made no such mistakes. She knew that George's mind worked much like hers did and that were the roles reversed and Alexander were in danger, George would be pacing the room doing his level best to remain calm and coll—

The vase shattered against the wall by the door and George leapt to his feet.

Daisy took a deep breath and shook her head and shoulders, as though that single act of destruction had eased so much tension. " _That_ was a hideous vase."

George took the brush and pan from near the fireplace and swept up the pieces. While he agreed that it was most certainly an ugly vase, the owner might not agree with the assessment that it really was better off being shattered. He had just disposed of it into the bin when the door opened and Inspector Priestly stepped into the room.

"Well, I must say, you took your time." Daisy crossed her arms.

Inspector Priestley glanced at George and George could tell that he too saw through the flimsy Daisy defenses behind which she was hiding her panic.

"I do apologise, Miss Wells," Priestly said, "I do have information for you though, so if you could come with..."

Priestly trailed off and looked past Daisy's shoulder to the ornamental pedestal that had so recently been occupied. "Was there not a vase there before?"

"No. Of course not." Daisy replied hotly. "Why should there have been? Now, enough about ornaments, what had you to tell us about Hazel?"

Priestley shook himself, gave one last glanced at the pedestal, then gestured for them to follow him out of the room, muttering to himself that he could have sworn there had been a most vile vase on that pedestal...


End file.
